Tyre-testing plays a huge part in the world of racing. Without a proper tyre setup, the risks involved in driving a race car over 200km/hour is high and there is a lot at stake. In the world of WRC, Hyundai Motorsport and Toyota Gazoo Racing have already begun their preparations to test the new 2021 WRC Pirelli tyres. The teams are now dialing up their cars to suit and perform efficiently with the new range of Pirelli tyres.
Last week, the drivers and their teams have discovered how the 2021WRC Pirelli tyres work on dry-asphalt. What they anticipate might be different when it comes to the performance that these tyre will provide in winter conditions.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak was pleased with his time on the racers, saying: “OK, we need to find out more about the Tarmac [driving on these tyres], but the slick seemed to perform quite well.
“It’s early to tell so much about the tyre. Definitely, we need some more time. I had one day for the test [in December] when it was slush and melting snow, demanding conditions where it’s difficult to find the limit of the tyre. It’s going to take time to learn because, for sure, the tyres are different.”
Also See:Toby Price Uses Cable Ties To Fix His Tyre In Stage 8 Of Dakar
Team Toyota's Elfyn Evans stated that he is quite confident in the Italian rubber, However, he admitted that it would take some time to get used with the new 2021 WRC Pirelli tyres since they were running on Michelin tyres in the recent race seasons.
He said: “The tyres are different from what we’ve been used to and it’s going to be interesting to see how they work in different conditions.
“The super soft tyre is still super soft and the winter tyre with studs is still a winter tyre with studs, but what we don’t know is what window they will work in.
“We don’t know, for example, how they’ll work as a combination of tyres across a loop of stages where the first one is snow and the second one has mixed conditions.
“Because these are new for us, it’ll take time to understand the tyres in the evolving conditions. But, in certain conditions, I think the Pirelli will be more suitable,” added the Welshman.
Also See:Pirelli Says Their 2021 F1 Tyres Will Work The Best
